Sweet as Sugar
by Razell
Summary: Toad and Sabretooth battle the Sugar Man to save Mutantkind from slavery. Rated for violence.


**Sweet As Sugar**

A top secret lab in the Ridgeback mountains of Genosha-

"Well, isn't this bloody ironic?" Toad dodged the thin but powerful appendage, he couldn't even see it's owner anymore, but the freak's tongue seemed to be endless. The Sugar Man's tongue bent sharply to the left, still chasing Toad. He wasn't surprised, this tongue wasn't supple and slick like his own, it was somehow... Rigid. The tongue didn't bend, it turned sharply like the corners of a book. And it just kept coming. "Ialwaysdid love frogs-legs" The Sugar Man taunted in his bizarre, almost childish way. It was hard to believe that this being was one of the most evil minds on the planet. "Ican stillsmellyou, Frog-boy Besweet, Giveup and I'll makeitquick."

Two hours earlier- Magneto's Headquarters

"So, let me get this straight," Mystique asked smoothly, "You believe that some sort of insane mutant is trying to create a virus that will allow the humans to control us? Why the hell would a mutant want humans to enslave his own kind?" Magneto stood quietly in front of the gathered Brotherhood, "Precisely, because he_ is _insane, he wants power and doesn't care how he achieves it. Obviously, we cannot allow this to happen. My sources report that this 'Sugar Man,'" Toad snickered loudly, _Sugar Man? What kind of a name is Sugar Man?_ "As I was saying, "Magneto glared at the green-skinned mutant, "This Sugar Man is incredibly powerful, and has access to technical knowledge beyond anything they've ever seen. And my sources have seen a great deal of technology." The Brotherhood sat silent for a moment, until Vic smiled, with that glitter in his eyes that always came before a kill, "So we kill him?" Magneto sighed loudly, "I was hoping to take him alive, discover what he knows and why. But my agents assure me this creature is far too powerful for that..." He shook his head, "So powerful, in fact, that I will accompany you on this mission."

Thirty minutes earlier-The Ridgeback mountains of Genosha.

Magneto floated effortlessly to the cave entrance, and Toad made the climb in three hops, but the others took precious time climbing the rocky cliff. They entered the dark cave cautiously, Magneto sending out a slight signal to deactivate any surveillance equipment or weapons. After a few moments, they saw light ahead, and simply stepped into the laboratory. Toad shook his head in disbelief, the technology here made his greatest works look like piles of scrap. He could guess the purpose of some of the machines, but others were completely alien to him. Someone behind him gasped in awe. The walls were lined with panels flickering brightly even in the harsh light of the laboratory, no massive generators or bulky computers, just panels, he thought dimly of _Star Trek_, until he saw what lay in the center of the room. Four gigantic test tubes filled with bubbly green liquid, each with a small work station of panels, and each manned. Each man was identically dressed and completely bald, with numbers tattooed on their foreheads. Slaves? They made no move to attack or to flee. Magneto stared at the men, at the numbers, then looked to his own arm, trembling with rage. He, too had a number, a number given him in the concentration camp that had robbed him of his childhood, his family and of any faith in mankind. He felt rage, fear and hatred well up inside him. _Not again. Never again._ He held up his hand even as Creed moved to pounce, holding them back, just staring into the eyes of these men who'd been robbed of their dignity, their freedom, their humanity...

Then the master made his entrance,

If it had not been for the look on Magneto's face, Toad would have laughed at the thing. Pyro did laugh, it was such a ridiculous sight, but _he_ had been ridiculous looking too, that demonic little man with the funny mustache. Toad knew Magneto, and he knew about the numbers, even though Hitler's dark dream had collapsed decades before he was born. The Sugar Man looked like a giant head,_ a frickin' giant head_, with four tiny arms, (One holding a giant stone mallet covered in graffiti) two tiny legs, a pair of tiny horns and a massive toothy mouth. "So, Magnetohascome at last?" The voice was scratchy, deep and totally without fear. "You mayhavekilled the HighLord, but nobody killstheSugarMan!" Magneto answered by ripping away a section of the metal wall and sending it towards the beast, careful to avoid the tubes. There was not thought of capture, information or mercy now, he wanted this creature to die, painfully.

But Sugar Man was far faster than his bulk made him appear, he dodged the lethal attack and launched one of his own. He shot out a long, pink tongue toward Magneto. "Oi, that's my bit!" Toad shouted indignantly as Magneto put up a powerful magnetic shield. The tip of the Sugar Man's tongue sliced through the shield like water and pierced Magneto's armor, then his flesh, emerging on the other side. Magneto collapsed in a heap as the Sugar Man slid his tongue out, "Not assweet as I expected." he said mournfully, as the Brotherhood moved to attack, with Mystique guarding Magneto. Creed lept toward the beast's face, but the tongue caught him halfway, wrapping around him like foil, then driving it's spear tip into his heart. Toad cursed loudly and made a flying leap from the side, knocking the monster into, and through, the closest wall, while his tongue snagged the mallet from his clawed hands. Pyro finally made himself useful and sent a blast of superheated flame into the hole made by the Sugar Man's body, and for a moment everything was quite. Creed's healing factor would save him, but Magneto was badly injured.

'Ya stupid Aussie, keep the flame on!" Toad shouted as Pyro stopped his attack to come to Magneto's side. It was nearly his last mistake, Toad's tongue wrapped around him and slung him away as that pink tongue darted out once again from the hole. But, Sabertooth was even now wrestling his way out of that same tongue...

The Sugar Man lept from the flaming rubble, his body noticeably smaller than before. He'd discarded his old, burned body like a man taking off a wet coat. Mystique lifted Magneto's limp form, "We have to get Magneto out of here, Toad, come with me. Pyro, Sabertooth, you hold it off until we're clear!" Toad knew why he was needed, he was the best pilot in the Brotherhood, but he knew that Mystique was a fine pilot, and Pyro was too young and stupid to have a chance against this thing. "Take John," he shouted, "I'm a better brawler than that lil' nutter! Besides, this freak stole my bit!" Mystique glared, but there was no time to argue, she and Pyro headed toward the cave that led back to daylight. "Nobodygetsout! Everybodydies!" Sugar Man shouted, and that pink tongue darted in front of them. Toad jumped and landed with his full strength on the nearest section of tongue, eliciting a howl of pain from the Sugar Man and allowing the three precious seconds to escape. "Thathurtyoustupidchav!You'lldiereallyslowandsweet forthat, Frog-boy!" _Chav? Did 'e just call me a chav? Somebody's been watchin' the BBC...,_ Toad thought. It was true, of course, but still...

Sugar Man apparently didn't realize that Creed was still alive as he shot his deadly tongue at Toad. The enraged mutant lept on the beast from behind, ripping and tearing at his smelly hide, roaring, "Toad, get his eyes!" Toad dodged the now wildly groping tongue and spit his acidic slime into the screaming Sugar Man's huge white eyes, then hit him in the face with his own mallet, "Take that, ya bloody monster!" The Sugar Man collapsed, clawing at his burning eyes and trying to knock Creed off his back. After a few moments, the screaming stopped, and the Sugar Man lay still. Creed continued to claw at the fallen mutant in a feral rage, until a sudden movement shocked him back, a small creature lept from Sugar Man's body and fled, cackling, deeper into the lab. "Bloody 'ell!" Toad cursed, "Why wont this thing just die?" Sabertooth just growled in reply, too angry, frustrated and bloodthirsty to reply.

"Whywonttheyjust die!" Sugar Man growled. He knew why Creed wouldn't die, he remembered Creed, from before. He had been a Horseman for The High Lord, before he somehow developed a conscience about killing. Last he'd heard, Creed and that ... _Whatwashisname?_ Wild Child, that was his name, were working for Magneto, his world's Magneto, fighting against The High Lord. If a mindless killing machine like Wild Child could be described as working for anyone, Creed had to keep him on a short chain,_ literally_. But the other one, the green one, he didn't know, he certainly wasn't Wild Child. The others called him Toad, but Sugar Man had never heard of a mutant called Toad... And he had a tongue, too, but it was a joke compared too Sugar Man's own. _Ishoulda' comeoutgunsblazing!_ He thought angrily, _Shoulda'mowed'em alldown! _

For the first time in his life, Toad wished that the X-Men were here, Storm, even. Sure, she had nearly killed him with that lightning blast, and he'd pay her back someday, but seeing Sugar Man light up like a Christmas tree would sure go a long way towards putting the past behind them. Creed was searching one area of the dark, dirty hole that apparently served as Sugar-Man's home. The walls were covered with childish drawings of Apocalypse, a bloke with a glowing eye, Sugar Man himself and... candy. _Apocalypse_... _Could 'e behind the Sugar Man?_ Maybe, but Toad pictured Apocalypse as striking out at humanity first, not mutants. Mortimer Toynbee wasn't ashamed to admit that he was afraid of the ancient, twisted creature. Toad wondered what Apocalypse' childhood must have been like, not knowing what he was, probably hated and feared as some kind of demon, it was likely centuries before he even saw another mutant, centuries more before he found out what he truly was. Compared to Apocalypse, Mort figured he'd probably lived a charmed life. He shook his head, this wasn't about Apocalypse' childhood traumas, it was about catching and killing this thing that was determined to enslave mutantkind. He heard a faint sound behind him, and lept to the ceiling, looking down to see that long, pink tongue slash deeply into the steel wall he'd just been standing in front of... "'Es over 'ere, Creed!" Toad shouted, then lept out of the room, back into the light of the corridor. No way he would fight_ that_ in the dark.

The tongue followed him, down the corridor, into the main lab, through more corridors, laughing and taunting it's prey. Suddenly that bloody tongue snapped around his left leg, strong as steel, the impossibly sharp tip sliding upward. "GotchaFrog-Boy!Thisis gonna besweet!" It slid up his leg as he desperately tried to beat it off, the sharp tip slithering uncomfortably close to his crotch, then further up, binding his arms, and he darted his head back to avoid a deadly thrust, which impaled the ceiling instead. _I guess this is it, Mortie boy... Killed by a sharp tongue. The X-Men'll get a real kick outta this one..._

Suddenly there was a roar and a shriek, and the tongue slid back like lightning. _Took ya' long enough, Creed..._

Toad headed back toward the sounds of battle, a plan forming in his keen mind. He positioned himself in a sharp corner of the hallway, and waited for the pitter-patter of tiny feet.

Toad looked down as the creature staggered out of his hole, the Sugar Man was tiny now, less than a foot tall, and exhausted from the battle, yet still his tongue lashed out into the distance, slashing at Creed. Toad smiled broadly, "I'm up 'ere, mate!" Toad lept from his hiding place, putting the full force of his powerful legs into the blow. The tiny mutant barely had time to scream before he was smashed beneath Toad's boots, the force behind it strong enough to leave a dent in the steel floor. The tongue twitched briefly, then finally lay still. Toad grimly began to grind his boot over the spot where the Sugar Man had stood seconds earlier. It was a disgusting sight, and even Toad's iron clad stomach turned at the sight of the remains when he finally stepped away. _I'll need new boots after this..._ He thought grimly. Creed stumbled into the room, covered in blood, wildly sniffing, searching for the Sugar Man. Toad lept to the high ceiling and stayed there as Creed raged about being deprived of his prey. At least some things in Toad's life were still normal.

Three days later-Magneto's Headquarters

Magneto was still in the medical ward, recovering from the wounds he'd received from the Sugar Man. He was still well enough, though, to order the complete destruction of Sugar Man's lab, and the virus within. He also had some of his finest people working on the slaves, seeing if the process could be reversed. Despite the circumstantial evidence, it appeared that Apocalypse was not behind this plot, the old demon was still slumbering away in some great tomb somewhere, dreaming of conquest. Had Magneto not lost all belief in God long ago, in the camps, he would be thanking Him for that. Magneto hoped his efforts would be enough, but he had to be ever vigilant. Eventually someone else would create a mutant-specific plague, eventually information would fall into the wrong hands. He could only hope to get there before that fool Xavier. He could imagine his old friend trying to gently reason with Sugar Man, trying to 'redeem' him. Some people can't be reasoned with, some people can't be redeemed. He closed his eyes and imagined Xavier speaking politely, gently, to Sugar Man, and being eaten alive.

Mortimer Toynbee set his bare, webbed feet on the coffee table and smiled. _There's nothin' like good ol' Hammer Horror an' a pint to 'elp a bloke relax._ He was watching _The Gorgon_, grinning as the title character tried to force the hero to turn and look at her eerie face. Eerie, _not_ ugly. Beauty really is relative, _especially _when you're a mutant. He knew how the movie ended, of course, he'd seen it many times before, but every time he was cheering for the Gorgon. _After all, freaks an' monsters like us 'ave to support each other... _He considered for a moment,_ I wonder if there really are mutants that can turn a bloke to stone with a look?_

Mystique was getting tired of the situation, Vic was still raging over not being the one to kill the Sugar Man, and John had apparently holed himself up in his room to avoid all contact with the feral mutant._ Maybe the kid's not as stupid as we think..._ At least Magneto was recovering faster than expected, and, as for Creed, he'd get over it. Mystique couldn't help but chuckle, this time, the Toad got to save the day, and all it cost him was a pair of boots...

The End

_The Gorgon_ (1964) and Hammer Horror currently copyright Columbia Pictures Industries.

All other characters copyright Marvel Comics.

It was hard for me to kill Sugar Man, he's one of my favorite characters, (I generally like the ugliest characters in a lot of stories. I even have his action figure!) but he's probably one of the most evil in the entire series. I just like him because he's ugly, and his initial appearances made him look far less intelligent than he really is. He ran a slave camp for Apocalypse and killed most of the AOA version of Generation X, (Poor Skin can't catch a break in any reality...) He also created a process that allowed the humans of Genosha (A fictional island off the coast of Africa) to enslave the mutant population for over 20 years. Sugar Man is from the Age of Apocalypse storyline, but he escaped that dimension for the 'mainstream' Marvel Universe. Here, he seems to have escaped into the Movieverse., and just recently set up shop.

The crudely drawn guy with the glowing eye is Nate Grey, also from the AOA

In the Age of Apocalypse, Toad was an even more malformed creature who worked with a traveling circus that was a front for helping people escape Apocalypse. He was a good guy. Sadly, he was killed in battle by Domino, who was a servant of Apocalypse.

_Wild Child/Kyle Gibney_ is a young, feral mutant, like a miniature Sabertooth, except he's more violently insane than intentionally evil. He's even been a hero at times, but the experiments the Canadian Govt. performed on him and cruel manipulation by Sabertooth and Mystique have always broken him down in the end. He's a pitiful character, he's also my favorite of them all. In AOA, he was basically a mindless beast who was too violent even for Apocalypse to handle, and was imprisoned with Vic, who managed to 'tame' him and escape. They helped Magneto and his followers to bring down Apocalypse.

The description of the lab and the Sugar Man's involvement in Genosha comes from _Cable_ #27-#28, I added my own touches as well. Yes, Sugar Man _reallydoestalk like this_, or, he did then, I haven't read many comics since, but I've seen panels online with him speaking normally.

Toad didn't let Pyro go in his place to be nice, really.

I didn't use Mystique in the battle because she's a shape-shifter, _not _because she's a woman. How do you write a battle scene with someone who can turn into just about anything she wants?

_Chav_ is British slang for a tough young punk, a rowdy, violent troublemaker and delinquent, usually a thug, in the _non_-rapper meaning of the word. Toad could reasonably be called a chav.

I'm trying to avoid writing any more stories that go over a reasonable limit. Very few people will read a 176 chapter story!


End file.
